Hall and Oates Are Seven Songs Into a New Album

Daryl Hall says he's worked on seven songs for a new Hall & Oates record, a collaboration with Dutch multi-instrumentalist and producer Jett Rebel, and that the process is "moving along" despite self-quarantining due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hall and John Oates first discussed the new record in January, but didn't give much more information other than it was in the "early, preliminary days." Hall noted at the time that he had been in Europe with "some young producers he's getting kind of energized with."

The singer now confirms he's working with Rebel, calling him a "genius." Hall tells UCR that Rebel introduced himself when Hall & Oates performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, Holland.

"We played there last summer, and he literally just came up to me and said, 'Hey, man, I’m a giant fan of yours,' and we just started talking," he recalls. "He gave me a CD of himself, and I went back and went online and listened to what he was doing, and I went, 'This guy is really good.' I started contacting him and we had email conversations."

Hall says "one thing led to another, and then I went over in January to the Netherlands at his studio and I threw some things together with him. I brought him over here to my studio in upstate New York, and back and forth like that. The guy is really, really good. He’s one of the best people I’ve ever worked with."

The singer explains that he's "sort of been channeling myself" as a writer lately. "I think of my own catalog and my own songs, and that can go a lot of different directions," he says. "But there’s a certain feeling that I look at when I think of both Hall & Oates music, and that’s what I’ve been channeling.

"I’ve brought John into the project, and John just gave me a chorus and I sent it to Jett and he sent me back stuff. There’s a lot of back and forth things going on. Even though we’re all isolated, it’s very much moving along. I think I have about seven tracks cut now. No vocals or anything like that, but really, really strong tracks."